Posdoc position at University of Orebro, Sweden

[Alessandro Saffiotti]

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            ***** Postdoctoral Position Available *****

      Center for Applied Autonomous Sensor Systems (AASS)
                   Orebro University, Sweden
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In Short
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Applications are invited for a position as a post-doctoral researcher
in the area of hybrid planning at Orebro University, Sweden.  This is
an initial 18 month appointment fully funded within the EU project
GeRT -- "Generalizing Robot Manipulation Tasks".  Interested
candidates can apply now and until the position is filled.

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About the GeRT Project
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In order to work naturally in human environments such as offices and
homes, robots in the future will need to be much more flexible and
robust in the face of novelty than they are today.  In the GeRT project
we address this problem by developing new methods to cope with such
novelty in manipulation tasks.  

The overall aim of the GeRT project is to enable a robot to autonomously
generalize its manipulation skills from a set of known objects to
previously unmanipulated objects.  To do so, the GeRT project includes
research activities in the areas of hybrid planning (see below),
perception, learning and grasping.  The platform used within GeRT is the
DLR robot Justin, a very advanced robot with two arms with four-fingered
hands.

The GeRT consortium consists of four European partners: the German
Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Max Planck Institute (Germany), the
University of Birmingham (UK), and Orebro University (Sweden).  More
details on can be found on the project web site www.gert-project.eu.

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About the Position
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The successful candidate will be employed as a postdoc with Orebro
University for an expected duration of 18 months.  The main task of
the postdoc will be to perform world-class research on hybrid planning
in the context of the GeRT project.  Hybrid planning in this context
means that, when planning for a task, the robot needs to reason both
about the purposes of actions on a symbolic level, and about the
kinematics and geometry of the robot and the objects it manipulates.  
The research is expected to involve a suitable combination of
theoretical investigation, concrete implementation, and empirical
validation on the Justin platform at DLR.

The postdoc will work within the local GeRT team at Orebro University,
which currently includes two faculties, a postdoc and a PhD student.
She or he will also collaborate with the other European partners in
the GeRT project, both remotely and through physical meetings and
research visits.  A small amount of teaching may also be part of the
postdoc's duties.

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Prerequisites and Application Process
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In addition to a clear interest in the research topic, the successful
applicant must have a strong theoretical background in computer science,
and solid programming skills.  A PhD in computer science, computer
engineering or comparable field is required.  We particularly seek
candidates with experience in artificial intelligence and planning, and
with inclinations towards cross-disciplinary research.  Knowledge of the
Swedish language is not required, but proficiency in written/spoken
English is mandatory.

To apply for the position, please send a motivation letter along with an
updated CV (including at least two academic references) by email to
Prof. Alessandro Saffiotti <asaffio at aass.oru.se>.  Applications can be
sent immediately, and they will be accepted until the position is
filled.  We are looking forward to receiving your application!

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About the Place
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Orebro University (www.oru.se) is a young university which currently
enrolls more than 15,000 students.  It is located in Orebro, a city of
130,000 inhabitants situated in central Sweden.

The Center for Applied Autonomous Sensor Systems (AASS) is one of the
Strong Research Environments at Orebro University.  It carries out
multi-disciplinary research at the intersection of robotics, machine
learning, artificial intelligence, computer vision, computer science,
and measurement technology.  The research and human environment at
AASS is young and enthusiastic.  Researchers come from a dozen
different countries, in Europe and worldwide, and have different
scientific and cultural backgrounds.  AASS also frequently hosts
international researchers and is involved in several international
projects.

AASS is internationally renowned for its research in cognitive robotic
systems, robot ecologies, and artificial olfaction.  Further
information can be found at www.aass.oru.se/Research/Robots/.

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 Prof Alessandro Saffiotti               www.aass.oru.se/~asaffio
 Head of AASS Mobile Robotics Lab             asaffio at aass.oru.se
 School of Science and Technology              Tel: +46 19 303794
 Orebro University, Orebro, Sweden             Fax: +46 19 303463
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